


For Those Who Still Care

by Thatsmysky (thatsmysky)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Female Character In Command, Female Protagonist, Monarchy, Post-Apocalypse, Revolution, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-16 05:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1333165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsmysky/pseuds/Thatsmysky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah only wanted to help people.  She wanted to make the world livable again.  Somehow instead she became Queen of the New World, with hundreds of subjects, and hundreds of revolutionaries at her door.  </p><p>John changed his name at the Apocalypse.  Seemed like the thing to do.  He had wanted to save everyone around him, but had ended up leading them to a death trap.  His family, his friends, even his girlfriend all died.  So he got a new family, and tried to lead them against the tyrant who thought just because she was in the right place at the right time that means she gets to rule the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Court

**Author's Note:**

> Woo Star-Crossed lovers who wanna kill each other instead of themselves!

Sarah awoke to a pounding on her door, an uncomfortable awakening she had learned to get used to. She rolled over and closed her eyes. She had been having the most wonderful dream. The pounding continued, and Sarah gave her quest up as a lost cause. It wasn't the first time she had had this dream, but she never saw the end. It didn't matter though, she knew what happened. The dream was a memory, long lost without hope of revival. It was a dream of Old Earth, of her life before.

  
Some days Sarah wished she could forget what had happened, forget who she had been, forget what she had done. She had tried to bury her past and for the most part she succeeded. Only one person knew who she had been before, and she didn't intend for anyone else to find out.

  
*Pound pound*

  
"My lady if you do not arise soon I will have Raymond break down your door"

  
Stephanie's polite call brought Sarah back to her senses. _'You are queen she reminded herself. You have to act like a queen, look like a queen, rule like a queen'_.   The last traces of her dream were chased from Sarah's mind as she called "I'm on my way Stephanie". The Queen hastily threw on a soft silk dress and carefully clasped her necklace around her neck. She was fingering her pendant when she came out of her room.

  
"My lady you mustn't fuddle with the Voimsus overmuch, let it hang where all can see. Let them see the power you hold"

  
 _'The power I hold'_ , Sarah thought, as she walked from her chambers down a rich dark wooden hallway to her Grand Hall. When she reached the opening of the hall there was a rustle of silk as every servant in the room knelt or curtsied. She looked around at the bent heads and lowered gazes and thought; ' _they needed a leader, not a tyrant. Not an all-seeing power to control them. They asked for a leader and they got this. Yet they are happy. They do not see the unrest; the strife their lives are ridden with, it is hidden…_ '

  
“My lady”

  
Sarah was awoken from her thoughts by a deep voice near her shoulder. The servants were going about their business; Stephanie was nowhere to be found. Sarah turned to the speaker and found Raymond, one of her chief advisers looking into her eyes with concern. Of all her court and friends Raymond was the only one who dared look her in the eye anymore. Sarah appreciated his courage for doing so; not many had the will to hold the gaze of a person who could kill them with the lift of a finger.

  
Raymond was different, however. He had worked hard to gain her trust, and he had been a powerful man on Old Earth. Tirakikit knew the benefits of having him as one of her advisers, but there was something unsettling in the way he acted. He seemed to take for granted that fact that she wouldn’t dare hurt him, as if he was the man behind the success of her kingdom. It was as though he was the king and she was just a pretty façade for people to bow at. He hadn’t even been with Tirakikit when she colonized New Earth, he had appeared later. She had always assumed that he had been hiding in some other safe area. Still, the benefits of a smart adviser outweighed her qualms, especially due to the fact that they had no basis of fact.

  
Raymond took Tirakikit’s arm and led her into the throne room with a bit more force than necessary. She took her arm back and walked the rest of the way on her two feet, with Raymond trailing behind. Without a word, Sarah faded and Tirakikit sat on her beautiful throne and pointed at the smaller stool next to her for Raymond. He sat down, still looking quite concerned for her well being.

  
“Raymond if you give me that look one more time I’ll think you actually care” Tirakikit said with a teasing lilt in her voice. Raymond bowed his head, but still replied “My lady, you know I would only ask because I care for the health of my Queen.” He looked up into her eyes, and those two bright blue orbs told a completely different story. A story of devotion, of caring, of trust. A tale of trust, understanding, confidence, adoration, respect, sympathy, kindness. Sarah had seen a look such as that before, a look of such tenderness she knew her heart would melt if she looked much longer. Once she had looked too long, as she looked into the eyes of another. She had seen the way him looked at her, and felt the same for him.

  
Tirakikit looked away. She could not, would not be pulled into that trap again. He was gone; the memory meant nothing. He wasn’t coming back. She reminded herself; leave the dead with the dead, they won’t come back to you. She wiped her cheeks and took a commanding pose in her throne as Raymond’s commanding voice rang out.

“Let the Complainers’ Day begin! Let all those who have a complaint with Queen Tirakikit, her governing policies, or has any area of concern come forth and bring their words to their Queen!”

  
Raymond’s voice hardly had time to echo around the room before a stream of people came pouring in. Some were looking for settlement of debt, some for reasons of why their land was not producing as well as last year. Some came with thanks or gifts for Tirakikit, tokens of gratitude for helping them survive. Most complaints were easy to handle, and Tirakikit grew weary after an hour or so. Her only sources of excitement were the rahtus and Raymond's jokes every few complaints. Raymond had a very dry sense of humor, however, and most of his jokes were at Tirakikit’s citizens’ expense. The rahtus were those of Tirakikit’s court who didn’t think she was running her country quite as well as they would like. They didn’t know what it took for one person to take care of thousands.

  
The day was barely half over. Tirakikit had not had anything to eat. Her poise would not show her weariness, however. She was still as erect and attentive as she had been when the day began. It was through this stoic appearance that Tirakikit had been dubbed ‘Queen Heartless’ by some of her less content subjects. There were always those who wished for something more; a better Queen, more money, better living conditions. Tirakikit knew this, and she knew how to deal with malcontents.

  
These were different, somehow. They got under her skin and found every weakness they could. There weren’t many, but they dug as deep as possible. Their leader especially bothered her. He could find a crack in a flawless surface and dig into it until nothing but the crack was left. He actually reminded Tirakikit of herself before the explosion. She had been a fair hand at breaking someone down, given the proper time. She had rarely used her gift then, now she uses it to break down prisoners and lowlifes who had broken her law. There was no one who could resist her special form of torture. Not anymore, at least. There had been one, but he was gone. Buried beneath years of indifference and a few feet of solid rock.

  
“My lady?”

  
Tirakikit was torn from her reverie once again, this time by her best friend Tabitha. Tabitha and Tirakikit had been friends for as long as Tirakikit could remember. Even before the explosion they had been close. Their friendship had only been strengthened when Tirakikit had saved Tabitha and so many others by taking them into her hideout under a layer of solid rock. It had been Tirakikit, with Tabitha’s help who had kept everyone calm and reassured them while their world exploded above them. Tabitha and Tirakikit were not the only ones who had let people into the cave. David, a close friend of Sarah's had brought as many people as he could as well. It was only Sarah who the people thanked, however. After they got out of their cave and saw the terrible wreckage that was then Old Earth they pleaded with Sarah to help them build a new world. Sarah agreed, on the basis that Tabitha would help. She wanted to include David in the bargain, but he was no where to be found, had never climbed out of the cave with them. Sarah never saw him again. And so Sarah became Queen Tirakikit and Tabitha became her best friend and Head Adviser.

  
“My lady?!”

  
Again Tabitha called Tirakikit back from her thoughts. She was invaluable in that regard, and many others besides.

  
“I am sorry Tabitha; the rahtus were getting to me again. I can’t help but feel as though they are somehow connected to David... Perhaps they are searching for revenge. He would be king if he hadn’t...”

  
“Sarah, I’m sure that if David had not died in the caves he would not have led this country any better than you are. And I am just as certain that he would sweep you off your feet and carry you off to be his Queen if he was, just as I know you wish he did.”

  
Tabitha was the only person who still called Tirakikit by her first name. She was also the only person close enough to Sarah to know that Sarah had loved David for as long as they had known each other. She was not close enough, however, to know that David had loved Sarah just as much. That was one secret that had died with him.

  
“Shall we have lunch?” Tirakikit asked, trying to change the subject.

  
“Yes, lets. These rahtus are getting on my nerves, not to mention the sappy looks Raymond keeps giving you. We can both use a few moments out of this mess.” With a wary look in Raymond’s general direction, Tabitha and Tirakikit slipped out of the Grand Hall. By the time they reached the kitchens they were giggling like giddy school girls. Tirakikit could already feel the weight of the day slipping off her shoulders.


	2. Underground

John kicked the dirt around his feet and picked up a nearby stone, testing it's weight in his hand before throwing it across the room.  The stubborn rock refused to shatter, and instead decided to bounce off the stone wall and roll to a mocking stop some feet away.  Unperturbed, John lifted another rock to repeat his task.  It had been too long since the others had left.  It wasn't his fault he had been asleep.  He had told them to wake him before they went on any expeditions, and they knew he would be angry if they didn't.  But they left anyway.  And left John asleep, alone, in a cave, with nothing to do but throw rocks at a wall until they returned.

John hefted his latest stone and lobbed it over his head, and he was rewarded by a satisfying bang as the rock finally broke against the stone wall, crumbling to the ground in pitiful pieces.  John rose to his feet from the boulder he had been sitting on, and strode across the room to where the remains of the miserable, pitiful rock laid.  Kicking at the rubble, John was reminded of another time, another stone wall, and other rubble he had kicked at fruitlessly.  There was no amount of strength which can kick down a stone wall that does not want to be moved.  But she had been on the other side of that wall, and John had needed to get back to her.  There was so much John hadn't told her, so much he needed to say... Of course, John remembered, he hadn't even been called John back then.  He had had a different name, a softer name.  A name she knew.  And with that though, John shoved all memory out of his mind, and stalked back to his boulder to throw some more rocks.

John knew this cave well; well enough to know the vibrations it made when troops patrolled overhead, knew every passageway, nook, and cranny.  He had lived here since the end, when the world came to a halt and only those who kept their heads survived.  He had kept his head.  John, although he had not been John then, had stayed sane long enough to grab anyone close to him and dive under a rocky outcropping to avoid falling debris.  But that was when everything had gone to hell.  John had grabbed several neighbors, who had grabbed their friends and family, who had grabbed theirs, until everyone was grabbing each other trying to get to safety.  John had grabbed his girlfriend.  John had grabbed his girlfriend's best friend.  He had only wanted to get those two to safety, no matter what he had said in the days leading up to this mess.  The crowd around them surged, pushing against John and his friends in a desperate attempt to find some room under the rocks.  So the rocks gave way.

John had fallen backwards, rolled down what seemed to be a hill of dirt, and hit his head on some rock at the bottom.  The last thing he saw was a girl screaming his name, but he did not recognize her. 

The next thing John knew, he was being lifted by strong arms and moved across a cave, the cave he was in now.  He was being asked his name, he was answering "John", while at the same time remembering that his name was not John, he did not live in this cave, and he did not know these people.  He knew he was forgetting something, someone, but everything before this cave was now a blur in his memory.  He had stood, brushed himself off, and offered to assist in clearing the rubble around what looked like a cave-in. 

For three years John lived with these people.  They cleared the rubble in the main cave in the first week; using the excess rocks and dirt to build makeshift tables and chairs.  Once they had done all they could for the main cave, three of the party had taken it upon themselves to explore the other connecting caves.  Those who remained behind worked on clearing a hole in the cave-in in order to have access to the outside world and all of its oxygen, since caves generally do not supply their own. 


End file.
